Evaluation of Appearance Management Behaviour among Students in Institutions of Higher Learning in Meru County, Kenya
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Date
2021
Authors
Ngunu, Alice Njeri
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Kenyatta University
Abstract
Appearance management (AM) encompasses the sum total of attention and activities that are used by an individual to control how he/she presents the body to himself/herself and to others. Appearance management comprises clothing, good grooming, dieting, body building and use of cosmetics. Clothes and physical appearance are important in non-verbal communication. Some appearance management is usually performed as a routine and carrying them out cannot result in any harmful effects on health, while some AMB, can threaten health especially if they are carried out for long period of time, and could have long-lasting effects. The study set to investigate issues on AM among students in institutions of higher learning in Meru County. The study set out to explore how knowledgeable students were about AM, establish the importance of AM, and determine what guided the students in the process of AM. Further, the study sought to investigate whether there was any relationship between personality, gender, age, self-esteem, body image and AM of the students under study. The study sought to establish the effects of peer influence on AM and establish if students engaged in risky AMB. The study utilized a descriptive cross-sectional design. The sample consisted of 373 students from technical institutes and universities in Meru County. A questionnaire with open-ended, close-ended and five-point Likert scale questions was utilized in collection of data. Descriptive statistics, Pearson correlation analyses were conducted on the data. Majority of the study respondents agreed that financial constraints influenced both clothing preference (85.1%) and grooming activities (69.1%) whereas societal demands (61.7%) influenced only their preference for clothing. Respondents said AM is not how a person looks (80.9%) neither is it what a person wears (83.4%) nor other peoples‟ perception (94.9%) but it referred to actions and decisions on the way a person looks (62.6%). One in three students (36.0%) mainly bought clothes once in every three months. They felt they were not useless (62.3%), respected themselves (52.3%), neither did they think they were no good at all (59.4%) nor inclined to feelings of being failures (68.0%). They felt motivating (65.1%), efficient (64.6%), contented with themselves (61.7%), observant (64.3%), cautious (64.3%), curious (56.3%), thoughtful (60.6%), detailed (57.4%) and diplomatic (67.4%), highly sociable (59.1%), warm-hearted (53.1%) and confident (50.9%). Personality (r = 0.833, p <0.001), self-esteem (r = 0.689, p <0.001), peer influence (r = 0.764, p <0.001) and body image (r = 0.764, p <0.001) were positively associated with appearance management. In conclusion, personality, gender, age, self-esteem, peer influence, and body image were significantly associated with AMB. There is a need for students to live within their means in respect to appearance management activities.
Description
A Thesis Submitted in Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Award of the Degree of Master of Science in Fashion Design and Marketing in the School of Creative Arts, Film and Media Studies, Kenyatta University, October, 2021
Keywords
Evaluation, Appearance Management Behaviour, Students, Institutions of Higher Learning, Meru County, Kenya